Introducing Mr. Salt

For this project, each student was supposed to pick out a work of 2D art and make it into a 3D sculpture. I chose the Japanese print "Segawa Kichiji III as Murasame" by Katsukawa Shunsho, 1773. As was the tradition in the kabuki and Elizabethan (Shakespearean) theatres, all parts were played by men. This particular print Kichiji III is playing the part of a young Japanese woman performing the "shiokumi" or the "salt-extraction" dance. Thus the name Mr. Salt.

He is completely hand built and about to be completed. I still have to finish the base of his kimono and make a couple of decisions regarding final props. In the print his character is carrying 2 water buckets hanging from a pole over his shoulder held by a very thin wrist which is difficult to achieve by using clay, so other materials may need to be incorporated. I will have to keep you in suspense, because due to the nature of the material he will not be dry enough to bisque before the end of this semester and will have to be completed in the fall.

As for the summer, it should be filled with bowls, sculptures and paintings to keep things interesting.  And will include a second blog for my Empty Bowls challenge. Check it out at my 100 Empty Bowls blog.

It's So Beautiful...

...and it's all mine!  My brand new Brent Pottery Wheel!  I know what I'll be doing this summer. Yea!

100 Empty Bowls 

My first challenge for myself was inspired by...  One Hundred Bowls in One Hundred Days. An ongoing artistic challenge in support of Empty Bowls Houston and the Houston Food Bank. Visit the 100 Bowls website.

Ok, so I don't plan on doing 100 bowls in a 100 days, but by the Empty Bowls 2013, I want to have personally formed and finished 100 bowls to donate.  This will be as much a learning experience as it will be a charitable one. The saying goes that one has to do something 10,000 times to master the skill. Having done only about 12 since last summer ('11) when I sat down at a pottery wheel for the first time, I have a long way to go before I even come close. So here goes... (I'll keep you updated on my progress of course!!!)

My Lil' Tea Squirt: Final

This is why I LOVE MUD! My lil' teapot is finished... fired at a cone 6, this little beauty represents form and color over functionality! This sea squirt was brought to life by watering down color slips and painting them on like watercolors. I especially like the texture that the chocolate brown created on the rocks. I opted not to add a glossy clear glaze thinking that would have been too much.

And to top it off, it has been accepted in the The 12th Houston Area Community College Student Exhibition at The Arts Alliance Center at Clear Lake (TAACCL) and will be on display from April 19 - May 17.

For my 2nd Ceramics II project, we are to create a 3D piece from a 2D work of art. I had been stuck on my initial choice trying to decide how to make it work and finally laid it aside accepting that my brain refused to wrap itself around it. I then chose something a bit more my style.  I look forward with sharing it with you soon!